Device for severing packing strips having blisters from a continuous film

ABSTRACT

A device for severing packing strips having blisters from a continuous film having a transport roller and, at a specific distance therefrom, a stamping device. The stamping device is combined with a stop, against which blisters of the packing strip to be stamped out run. By use of the stop, an always similar position of the blisters within the packing strip is achieved in the case of different expansion behaviors of the continuous film. By use of a buffer zone for a part of the continuous film, matching to different continuous films is achieved.

PRIOR ART

The invention is directed to a device for severing packing strips havingblisters from a continuous film. In a device of this type, known forexample from DE 32 08 265 A1, a continuous film which is filled withtablets or the like and sealed with a covering film is conveyed by meansof rollers step by step in each case by at least the width of a packingstrip into the region of a stamping device. In the stamping device,individual packing strips are severed from the continuous film by meansof a stamping punch and are fed, by means of a suction device, to atransport belt for further processing. In the case of the known device,it is disadvantageous that, as a result of the expansion behavior of theplastic films used for the continuous film, an offset can occur betweenthe shaping and transport devices for the continuous film and thestamping device, in particular in the case of a change of film, as wellas in the case of changing processing temperatures or inhomogeneities ofthe film. The result is an eccentric stamping pattern of the packingstrip, so that the blisters are no longer arranged centrally in thepacking strip. In comparison, both on functional grounds and on opticalgrounds, it is desirable that the blisters are always arranged at thelocations envisaged for them, for example with the same edge spacings,within the packing strip.

ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION

In contrast, the device according to the invention for severing packingstrips having blisters from a continuous film, has the advantage thatthe blisters are always arranged in the intended locations within thepacking strip.

Further advantages of the device according to the invention are obviousherein from the description. By means of the formation of a bufferregion for a part of the continuous film, both expansions and shrinkagesof the continuous film can be compensated for. The blisters arepositioned especially accurately and reliably within the packing stripif the shape of the stop is matched to the peripheral shape of theblisters. Furthermore, it is advantageous if the stop is arrangedinterchangeably on the device. By this means, a particularly simplematching to various blister shapes or arrangements of the blisters inthe continuous film can be achieved.

DRAWING

An exemplary embodiment of the invention is shown in the drawing and isexplained in more detail in the following description.

FIG. 1 shows a device for severing packing strips having blisters from acontinuous film, simplified in side view, and

FIG. 2 shows a top view of packing strip.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENT

The device for severing packing strips 11 having blisters 10 from acontinuous film 12, which is formed from a lower film 13 and a coveringfilm 14, adjoins a filling and sealing device of a packaging machine,not shown. In carrying out the invention, a deep drawing process isused. A deep drawing process is one in which a flat plate or flat sheetis converted into a simple three-dimensional shaped body. There, usingthe deep drawing process, blisters 10 are formed in the lower film 13,said blisters are filled, for example with tablets or the like, and thelower film 13 is subsequently sealed with the covering film 14. Thecontinuous film 12 thus formed passes into a transport roller 15, inwhich cutouts 16 are formed, which receive the blisters 10 in a positivemanner. In the entry region of the transport roller 15, there isarranged a nip roller 17 for guiding the continuous film 12 into thetransport roller 15. Instead of the transport roller 15, however,advance devices of other designs are also conceivable for the continuousfilm 12. The transport roller 15 conveys the continuous film 12, in eachcase by the width of a packing strip 11 to be severed, step by step intoa stamping device 20 arranged at a spacing from the transport roller 15which is determined by several packing strip widths. Between thetransport roller 15 and the stamping device 20, there are arranged, forthe broad sides of the continuous film 12, guide elements, for exampleguide plates 21 to 23, which form a passage between guide plates 21 and23. On one broad side of the continuous film 12, the guide plates 21 to23 have a buffer region 25 free for a part of the continuous film 12, inthis buffer region the continuous film can, for example, form a bulge26. The stamping device 20 has a stamp 27, which can be moved to and frotransversely to the conveying direction of the continuous film 12 and,together with a corresponding matrix 28, defines the outer outlines ofthe packing strip 11. The stamp 27 stamps one packing strip 11 in eachcase out of the continuous film 12 during the working stroke. Thestamped-out packing strips 11 are subsequently pushed out by the stamp27 through the matrix 28 to a conveying device, not shown, from wherethey pass into a device for packing a plurality of packing strips 11.

A perforation 29, which is penetrated by a stop 30, is formed in thestamp 27. The stop 30 is arranged rigidly and interchangeably on thedevice, so that the stamp 27, during the stamping stroke, moves parallelto the stop 30 and surrounding the latter. The stop 30 reaches as far asinto the plane of the continuous film 12, so that, during advancing ofthe continuous film 12, at least one blister 10 runs against the stop30. In an advantageous manner, the side of the stop 30, against whichthe continuous film 12 is conveyed, is matched to the shape of theblisters 10, so that the latter run against the stop 30 in a positivemanner. The position of the stop 30 with reference to the stamp 27 isselected such that the blisters 10 are located at a desired locationwithin the outer contour of the packing strip 11. Furthermore, it isadvantageous if the stop 30 is formed in such a way that not only oneblister 10, but, for example, all blisters 10 of a row of blisters of apacking strip 11 running transversely to the advance direction of thecontinuous film 12 run against a correspondingly matched stop 30.

The device according to the invention functions as follows:

The continuous film 12, as already mentioned, is conveyed by means ofthe transport roller 15 step by step in the stamping device 20 and runswith its blisters 10 which are furthest forward in the advance directionagainst the stop 30. As a result of the running of the blisters 10 ontothe stop 30, a same position of the blisters 10 in the packing strip 11,with reference to the stamping device 20, is achieved in each case.After the stamping out of a packing strip 11 from the continuous film12, the latter is correspondingly moved further by the width of onepacking strip 11. In this arrangement, it is advantageous to select thespacing between the transport roller 15 and the stamping device 20, orthe advance of the transport roller 15, in such a way that part of thecontinuous film 12 bulges out in the buffer region 25. The bulged-outpart of the continuous film 12 enables the blisters 10 furthermore torun against the stop 30, even if the continuous film 12, because of itsexpansion behavior, for example following a film change or in the caseof changed processing temperatures, had shrunk. Furthermore, anexpanding continuous film 12 can be stored, to a certain extent, in asimple manner in the buffer region 25 and form a buffer, withoutmatching operations having to be undertaken on the device.

The above-described device demonstrates the waste-free stamping out ofpacking strips 11 from a continuous film 12, in which waste strips occuronly at the edge. It is self-evident that, on the device according tothe invention, packing strips 11 can also be stamped out of a continuousfilm 12, a stamped lattice remaining as waste. Apart from a largeradvance distance of the transport roller 15, a device for removing thestamped lattice is also necessary for this purpose.

The foregoing relates to preferred exemplary embodiments of theinvention, it being understood that other variants and embodimentsthereof are possible within the spirit and scope of the invention, thelatter being defined by the appended claims.

We claim:
 1. A device for severing packing strips (11) having blisters(10) from a continuous film (12), having an advance device (15) thatconveys the continuous film (12) step by step by at least a width of apacking strip (11), and having a severing tool (20) having a continuousouter cutting edge that determines an outer contour of the packagingstrip (22) and adjoining at a specific distance in a conveyingdirection, a stop (30) is arranged in a covering region of the severingtool (20) and positioned to abut at least one blister (10) of thepacking strip (11) to be severed, and wherein the stop (30) penetrates acutout (29) in the severing tool (20), said cutout being within thebounds of said continuous outer cutting edge, said stop being parallelto a direction of motion of the severing tool.
 2. The device as claimedin claim 1, wherein a buffer region (25) for a part (26) of thecontinuous film (12) is formed between the advance device (15) and thesevering tool (20).
 3. The device as claimed in claim 2, wherein betweenthe advance device (15) and the severing tool (20), in a region of broadsides of the continuous film (12) there are arranged guide elements (21to 23) for the continuous film (12), which are free of the buffer region(25).
 4. The device as claimed in claim 3, wherein the advance device isa transport roller (15), in which cutouts (16) for the blisters (10) areformed.
 5. The device as claimed in claim 3, wherein a shape of the stop(30) is matched on a side facing the continuous film (12), to a shape ofat least one blister (10).
 6. The device as claimed in claim 3, whereinthe stop (30) is interchangeable.
 7. The device as claimed in claim 2,wherein a shape of the stop (30) is matched on a side facing thecontinuous film (12), to a shape of at least one blister (10).
 8. Thedevice as claimed in claim 2, wherein the stop (30) is interchangeable.9. The device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the advance device is atransport roller (15), in which cutouts (16) for the blisters (10) areformed.
 10. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the advance deviceis a transport roller (15), in which cutouts (16) for the blisters (10)are formed.
 11. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein a shape of thestop (30) is matched on a side facing the continuous film (12), to ashape of at least one blister (10).
 12. The device as claimed in claim11, wherein the stop (30) is interchangeable.
 13. The device as claimedin claim 11, wherein the advance device is a transport roller (15), inwhich cutouts (16) for the blisters (10) are formed.
 14. The device asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the stop (30) is interchangeable.
 15. Thedevice as claimed in claim 14, wherein the advance device is a transportroller (15), in which cutouts (16) for the blisters (10) are formed.